Brazil's Draw Against Mexico Leaves Them In Danger Of Not Qualifying For The Knockout Stages

Brazil played to a goalless draw against Mexico in their second match of World Cup 2014 and as a result, the host nation is in grave danger of not qualifying for the knockout stages of the World Cup for the first time in the tournament's history. Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari has failed to field an attacking midfielder by positioning Oscar on the flanks and allowing Paulinho to play deeper in midfield with little to no effect on the game. Moreover, Brazil’s centreforward Fred has been woefully ineffective in both matches to date and, as a result, the burden of the build up to attack has been shouldered by fullbacks Marcelo and Dani Alves in contrast to a creative midfielder in an attacking position. After the match against Mexico, Scolari hinted that he may make several changes to the Brazil starting lineup. One obvious reshuffling of the squad would be to replace Paulinho with Hernanes and Fred with Chelsea’s Willian, while returning Hulk to the squad because of his ability to add width to the Brazilian attack. Meanwhile, Oscar needs to be positioned in the center of the attacking midfield if Brazil are to have any chance of progressing in the tournament.